Brother Out For Vengeance
by Phouka Dragon11
Summary: Thanos has come. His first target; the Asgardian ship. But what if Thor had died, and the Loki got to live? (HIATUS)
1. Asgard's Second Downfall

If only Loki had known what consequences he would face by taking the Tesseract from the Asgardian vault, he would've left it right there to be destroyed along with his home. If only he hadn't made that decision, everything would be alright now.

Now, everything definitely was not alright.

The people of Asgard were still weak from Hella's short yet murderous rule, and they were barely given any time to recover. They had not been expecting an attack so soon, and by someone so powerful.

And above all, Loki hadn't been expecting it. Yet the moment he saw that massive ship, the moment he realised, his blood froze in his veins.

Everything came rushing back to him. He'd forgotten all about the Mad Titan, and that he had failed him. It was because of him that two Infinity Stones had slipped out of his grasp, and then the threat that was made rang around his head.

 _If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us; there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice we can't find you!_

Of course the consequences weren't pretty.

Everyone else was dead.

Half of the ship was blown into smithereens. Power pulsated through the atmosphere, the orange fire casting shadows over the rubble and slain people. The shrill voice that began to narrate stung Loki's ears.

"Hear me, and rejoice!"

Loki wished he could close his eyes, to shut himself out from this horror, but every nerve in his body screamed at him to keep looking. Even if he was in full view of them, he had to find Thor.

They had gotten separated in the first moments of the attack, and no matter how much he had looked for that familiar flash of white lightening, Loki couldn't see his brother past the madness of battle. And now that everything had calmed down, it should be easier to find him, shouldn't it? Loki could only pray that Thor wasn't dead.

Suddenly the horrible noseless creature appeared before Loki, that stern glare sending a nasty chill down his spine. It was beyond ugly, its voice like scratching nails across a chalkboard. Loki found himself taking a step back.

"You have become children of Thanos."

As if under a spell himself, Loki's eyes turned towards the biggest invader aboard, standing above everything else, high and mighty and powerful- everything that Loki had wanted. His cold eyes held Loki's, not allowing him to look away. Then the massive creature bent down to pick something up from the ground. Thinking it was a weapon, Loki took another step of retreat.

But it was not a weapon the Mad Titan had raised off the burning ground, instead an Asgardian, significantly bigger than the rest. Loki instantly recognised the groan of pain that came from him, and his heart dropped down to his feet.

And suddenly Loki couldn't move. His knees had locked in place and he stayed rooted to the ground. Not that he could back away any further, the Children of Thanos had already assembled behind him, forcing him to face their leader. Never before had he been so terrified in his entire life.

Loki wasn't listening to what the armoured titan was saying, but when he raised his fist to show the purple glow from the index knuckle, that was when the chaos around came into focus.

Thanos forced his brother to his knees, holding him firmly by the head. "You talk too much," Thor spat, rasping in breath after breath.

Thor was still fighting, even now. And what was Loki doing?

"The Tesseract," Thanos demanded coldly. "Or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference."

This was not good... at all. But what other choices could he have? The warriors behind him were ready to kill at any moment. So Loki put on a straight face, and answered as calmly as he could. "Of course I do-" he couldn't look Thor in the eye. "Kill away."

He instantly regretted saying that. Thanos raised his fist, the single purple stone shining brighter than ever before. All the purple giant had to do was press his knuckle into the side of Thor's head, and instantly Thor's rasping breaths turned into one long, ear-shattering scream.

" ALRIGHT STOP!" Loki shouted. Thanos gave him a sneering look as he took his fist away from Thor's head. Loki sighed and raised his arm, and between his fingers appeared the glowing blue cube. The Tesseract.

Thor mumbled something, something that Loki couldn't quite hear, but he felt the need to comfort him. Of course he knew what he was doing. There was movement in the distance that he could see in the corner of his eye. "I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again." He was taking cautious steps forward now, but then stopped. "One more thing." He raised his head to look Thanos in the face. "We have a Hulk."

He'd been wanting to say that for a long, long time. The familiar, loud roar tore through the air, and the massive green beast charged towards them. Loki darted forward, tackling Thor out of the way as the Hulk crashed into Thanos, taring him apart. It took him a few moments to realise that the Tesseract had slipped from his grasp.

And watching the Hulk- the creature who had single handedly beat the shit out of two gods- get defeated by Thanos was not encouraging. At all.

Then everything was a blur again. The flash of blinding light, the sound of Himdall's death, it was out of focus like a faulty camera, the voices distant as if he was hearing them through a long tunnel.

That was until Thor lunged forward, a deep-pitched alien sound of rage emerging from him like fire from a dragon. However all the noseless freak had to do was wave his hand, and there was metal binding Thor where he was, forbidding him any movement.

And what of the Tesseract? Where was it? Too late.

Thanos shattered the cube as if it was nothing, the glass crumbling in his fist. Loki had a sudden, quick flash of memory. Hella had destroyed Mjolnir with the same effortlessness, without a second thought as if shattering the legendary hammer was something she did every other day.

Now the Mad Titan had two Infinity Stones. Power and Space. Loki desperately raked his mind for any cunning plan, but all his useless brain could think of was- _two Infinity Stones? That's overkill._

"There are two more stones on Earth," he announced to his followers, however flashing them a look of disgust, as if he was displeased with them, or wished that someone else was in their place.

It was that moment Loki made another split second decision. It was his final, very desperate card.

"If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide," he said, stepping out of the shadows. It was easy acting indifferent, he had polished that art through many years. "I have a bit of experience in that arena."

Thanos once again met his eye. His stare was cold that it could freeze even a Frost Giant. "If you consider failure experience," said he.

Loki's look darkened slightly. "I consider experience experience." He glanced towards Thor for a split second before saying his next words. "Oh mighty Thanos-" he said aloud, then added in his mind- _I am not referring to you_. "I, Loki, Prince of Asgard, God of Mischief-" his trusted dagger slowly revealed itself in his hand. "Swear to you, my undying fidelity."

Quick as an adder, Loki threw the dagger upwards towards Thanos' throat, hoping to end this as quickly as it started. That was not how it went.

He couldn't move his wrist. He tried to strike forward, and when that didn't work, he struggled to retract his arm, but that blue smoke he had stupidly thrust his hand into held him in place.

The smile Thanos gave him chilled Loki to the bone. Loki suddenly couldn't breathe, and the floor disappeared from under his feet. He thrashed in a lame attempt to free himself. "Undying is the wrong word to use."

With those words Thanos threw the pathetic Asgardian round the axis as if he was just a mere twig. The hit was hard, and Loki couldn't hold in the shrill whimper of pain. His suit was all scarred at his back, where he had been scraped across the ground. He tried his best to ignore the agony as he got up to his knees. That was the moment he was done for.

"No resurrections this time," Thanos' voice echoed like a million shards of glass. The Power Stone began to glow so bright it looked like a mini star on his knuckle. It was ready to fire and obliterate Loki. Thanos fired, and Loki waited for the final blow.

Yet it never came.

It happened as quick as a strike of lightening, followed by the loud crash of breaking metal. A flash of movement. Somebody had darted in front of Loki, the thin purple beam of power striking him directly in the heart. The somebody tumbled to the ground, no longer moving.

Loki felt as if he had been skewered onto a long shard of ice, and the edges of his eyes began to sting as he slowly realised what had happened.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... NO!

Loki didn't care when the dark violet infected the environment around, spreading through the metal of the ship like veins of poison. He didn't care when the Titan and his warriors disappeared behind a cloud of blue smoke.

Ignoring the pain in his neck and his back, Loki put his remaining strength into dragging himself to the limp body, and looked his saviour in the face.

"Please, wake up," he whispered, though he knew it was useless.

The God of Thunder was laying on his back, not moving a single muscle, his remaining eye glassy and staring into the space above Loki's head. He wasn't blinking.

Loki had never experienced being torn apart, but now he knew what it felt like. With a sad hiccup, he pressed his face to his brother's chest and let his tears soak into the bloodstained clothes which he held in two tightly bundled fists. But what good would that do? Thor's heart had stopped beating, and his breathing had faded into everlasting silence.


	2. Eyes Half Closed

Loki was dreaming, but it wasn't so much a dream as a memory.

 _He was in the Asgardian Vault, where the silence hung around like a welcomed curse and the dim midday light shone through the entrance. There were guards outside so they had to be careful._

 _"Hurry up Loki, the guards are gonna hear," Thor whispered as loudly as he could. He was the stronger sibling, so he was standing on the ground perfectly balanced without a sweat. Loki was standing on his shoulders, reaching for the giant golden fist on the highest pedestal with outstretched fingers, yet the weapon was still out of reach._

 _"Can't you stand on your tip-toes?" he hissed, looking down at his brother. "We just need to be taller."_

 _Thor made an inhuman growling noise. "I can do that, but you're gonna have to co-operate."_

 _Loki took a moment to process what Thor had just said, then looked down at him with a comically outraged look on his face. "I always co-operate!"_

 _But Thor's mouth had twisted and he shook his head curtly. "Nah ya don't."_

 _"Are you calling me a liar?"_

 _"I'm not calling you a truther!"_

 _So Thor raised himself onto the balls of his feet, lifting them the few vital inches. The jolt threatened to make Loki fall, but he kept his balance. He'd heard of the 'fear of heights', but didn't understand it. Why should he be afraid when he had his most trusted person holding him up?_

 _The few inches Thor managed to lift them was all they needed, and Loki reached out with widespread hands again. His fingertips brushed against the golden metal. "Almost... got it..." With a few crooks of his fingers the gauntlet slowly slid towards himself, until he could hold it with two flat palms. A surge of pride spreading through his little body, and he huffed a chuffed exhale before he was able to pull the treasure towards himself, loudly scraping it against the stone. "I've got it!"_

 _"Great! Now pull it down and get out of-" he started when suddenly a commotion of running footsteps echoed through the tunnels._

 _The doors burst open, and in came running Odin, two guards right behind him._

 _"What are you two doing here?" he growled, glaring down at them. Though his face was calm, there was something feral in his one working eye, and it was that which finally caused Loki to feel cold all over._

 _The two boys froze over, neither moving a single muscle as they looked towards their father with absolute horror, not daring to say a word._

 _"Who's idea was this?" Odin asked briskly, his voice sharp and harsh. He wasn't waiting for an answer, his attention was focused on Loki._

 _"It was my idea father," Thor suddenly piped up. "I convinced Loki to help me."_

 _Odin wasn't the only one who gave him a bewildered glare._

 _"That's not in your nature," the old man pointed out skeptically, his glare switching form the blonde-haired to the black-haired. "Are you sure it was you?"_

 _Of course it wasn't Thor. Loki was the one who had suggested sneaking into the vault, and then trying to take the golden jewelled gauntlet. Of course it was Loki, who else could it possibly be?_

 _"Yes father, it was me." He set Loki down onto the ground as gently as he could, before lowering his head in shame before their father. "I'm sorry father, I just wanted to prove our strength."_

 _"Our strength?" Odin echoed, then gestured the door. "Guards, will you escort Thor back to his mother?"_

 _Thor kicked angrily at the ground before he followed the two guards with a sharp, annoyed exhale. For a few moments Loki stared, but just when he was about to follow, his father's voice caused him to go rigid as ice._

 _"You let your brother throw himself under the bus for you, and you did nothing."_

 _Loki didn't reply, but instead ran after the two guards and his brother._

* * *

"How the hell is this dude still alive?"

The Guardians of the Galaxy had heard the distant distress call of a ship in danger, and came in roaring to save the day like they always did. What they didn't expect was that they had come too late.

The parts of the ship were everywhere, torn apart by god only knew what. And a big ship it seemed to be too, for the destruction stretched out for miles. They weren't just late, they were far too late.

Just as they were wondering what could've possibly caused this amount of genocide, something bonked against their windscreen. Not just any something, a person.

Each of them had freaked out over the dead guy against the glass. Why wouldn't they? Just that the supposedly dead guy didn't turn out to be dead at all. His eye had opened wide to stare directly at them. It was just a pure amber-orange sheet, no pupil or iris. It stared right through their very souls, filling even Drax the Destroyer with a sense of cold fear.

So they pulled him inside out from the vacuum of space, and to their immediate surprise, the ragged creature was still alive. His heart was still slowly beating.

Beat, beat, beat...

* * *

The scene burst apart, yet another setting assembled itself out of the little pieces like wisps of paint in reverse.

 _"You've had another nightmare?"_

 _Little Loki nodded his little head after a long moment's hesitation, his hand wiping away the water leaking from his eyes. "Yeah," was all he was willing to say._

 _But of course Thor already knew that it was bad even if Loki refused to say any more. He'd come crying to his room in the middle of the night for goodness sake! At least he had the common sense not to come crying to Odin in the middle of the night after last time. To who else was he to turn to?_

 _Loki fixed his blurry vision to watch Thor sit up in his bed and yawn with sleepy eyes. "And you woke me up just to tell me you had a scary dream?" He didn't look pleased, his hair sticking up on one side where he had slept on it while his eyes resembled the sides of coins. "Well? You might as well tell me what it was about. Go on, I'm listening."_

 _Loki hesitated, suddenly anxious. He was shaking, but not of the night cold- he was never cold for some reason. "I... I don't remember," he lied._

 _He did remember though, very clearly as if it had really happened before his very eyes. A strange city, cuboid towers full of flames. At first he'd thought it was Asgard, but this city's towers did not claw at the sky, pulling out the cloud with long, pointed fingers of gold. Many, many black creatures were flying about like summer flies, and flying slug-like millipedes knocked down entire buildings just by crashing into them. And there was a tall, unfamiliar long-haired blonde man struggling against him. However what he was saying, that Loki genuinely forgot._

 _Thor exaggerated his eye roll, sighing a deep sigh. "You need to work on your lying brother." He shuffled to one side of the bed, lifting up the duvet with one hand. He gave a short swing of his other hand, waving towards himself. "Get in here."_

 _"What?"_

 _Thor gave him a glare. "I'm not letting you deal with a nightmare alone, brother. You're sleeping with me." He shuffled again to make even more room in the small bed._

 _Loki hesitated, before slipping into the creaking bed beside his brother, getting comfortable in the small space as Thor covered them both with the duvet. He could feel Thor's warmth press against him, and he yawned loudly to announce he was once again very tired. Yet he could see that Thor had already closed his eyes, his eyelashes casting fine shadows against his cheekbones. Of course he would wake up next morning with his hair messed up and sleep in his eyes, but Loki would be the same._

 _Beside Thor he felt safe, no harm would ever come to Loki as long as Thor was at his side, he knew that._

 _"Goodnight Loki."_

 _"Goodnight Thor."_

* * *

Drax narrowed his eyes at the stranger, studying him visually until he came to his final conclusion. "This is not a dude," he corrected Quill, looking him straight in the face. "You're a dude. This here-" he looked back to the stranger. "This is a man. A handsome, slender man."

Quill looked up at him, a grimace forming on his bearded face. "I'm slender," he said modestly.

There was a look of doubt on Drax' face, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Rocket beat him to it.

"Who're you kidding, you're one sandwich away from fat," the definitely-not-raccoon barked, pausing in his instinctive sniffing to get used to the strange man's scent.

Quill puffed himself up like an offended peacock. "Yeah right," he snorted, but Rocket was snickering, his annoying little teeth shown.

"It's true, you have put on weight," Drax pointed out, and when Quill pulled an appalled look, he proved his point by drawing an imaginary outline at his stomach, exaggerating a lot so it looked like he was imitating pregnancy

So Quill desperately looked to the green lady for assurance. "Gamora, do you think I'm-" His voice trailed off when Gamora left his side without a word, which he instantly took as a 'yes'. He huffed in shock and offence, his mouth agape for a while before he collected himself. "Alright, I'm gonna get a treadmill, and I'm gonna commit!"

Just then did Mantis give out a horrified scream, bursting into hysterical tears.

* * *

The scenes changed again, this time like smudging your finger ever so gently against the surface of a still pool of water.

 _It was very dark, and very, very cold. Flakes of snow flew in the wind, and the breaths turned into puffs of water vapour. Yet it certainly was not calm._

 _Loki wasn't a battle veteran, but it didn't mean he didn't have training. Both he and Thor had been trained under their father- the best warrior in all of the Nine Realms. He had always battled against his father or Thor during training- he'd always prefer fighting Thor even though his brother was clearly the better fighter- and always imagined battles as two sides marching steadily towards each other before breaking into a charge. Or at least watching it from afar, watching the two sides clash._

 _This was nothing like that._

 _This was chaos, a blur of movement and shouting. His allies and his brother dived into the battle without even a glance back at him._

 _And then there were the Frost Giants- lots and lots and lots of Frost Giants. Odin and the other parents- except for Frigga for some reason- always told scary stories of these monsters to little children, making sure all Asgardians knew of the danger that the Frost Giants posed. He shivered when he remembered a specific story Odin had told him, where a gang of Frost Giants tore apart a little Asgardian girl. Of course it was fake- but it was terrifying to think of- even now._

 _Loki had begged, more than once, for Thor to let this stupid idea go, to stand by and not attack the Frost Giants so stupidly, pleaded for him to let it go. And Thor would've backed down if it wasn't for his giant ego._

 _And even then, the touch of the Frost Giants was deadly to Asgardians, it was common knowledge. Their skin was so cold it could burn flesh like a dry leaf._

 _At least the battle gave him an opportunity to practise his illusions and powers. It was going well for being put under such pressure, and Loki was surprised that he hadn't messed up yet. He did have quicker reflexes than Thor, which came in handy. It was always gratifying when the Frost Giants screamed at him when he evaded their spears and sharp hands._

 _But he was not fast enough with one. The chill was sent through his entire body when one Frost Giant grabbed him by the forearm, shattering through his metal sleeve with ease making it flake away like sunburnt skin. Loki braced himself for incredible pain, but what happened was much much worse._

 _The pale skin began to fade away, showing through the rigid blue scales with distinctive darker markings- like tattoos. Loki's heart stopped the instant he recognised those markings._

 _The Jotun that grabbed him had also noticed, and its burning orange eyes looked up at him. His look said it all._

 _Why are you on their side?_

 _With a quick flick of the dagger the giant fell to the floor, releasing his grip on Loki, allowing the smooth pale skin to cover what lay underneath. Loki examined his arm, praying desperately that what he had seen was not real. Yet the look of the giant and his own eyes proved him otherwise._

 _Loki's eyes darted to Thor, who had that exhilarated smile plastered on his face as he swung his hammer away at giant after giant. He was yelling something in barely suppressed excitement._

I will hunt the monsters down and slay them all!

 _In all the time of this battle, that was the single moment Loki felt truly scared. So much so that he felt every inner organ turn itself inside out._

 _How could he be afraid of his own brother?_

* * *

"What's up with you?" Rocket barked, but Mantis barely heard him over her own tears. She snatched her hands away from the man's head as if she's just burned them severely. Her cheeks were wet, and the tears kept on coming, screaming horrible sounds of terror at the top of her lungs. Her antennae ceased their bright glow, and she stumbled away from him onto the ground.

"Mantis?" The attention was shifted towards the newest member of their team.

But Mantis would not calm down. Her hands clawed desperately at her head, as if trying to tear out her thoughts or whatever was causing her to meltdown. It was as if touching the stranger's head had infected her, causing her very mind to break.

Gamora left Quill's side to kneel beside the strange alien, her hands suspended in the air to let Mantis her intentions were peaceful. "Breathe," she whispered to her, taking conscious control of her breathing so that Mantis could coordinate her own breaths with hers. It took a while for Mantis to completely calm down. "What happened?" Gamora asked gently.

Mantis took a deep breath before replying. "His emotions-" she looked up at the handsome stranger. "I never want to feel anything like that ever again!"

"I am Groot?"

Rocket flattened his ears. "Dude! You don't just ask someone what someone else's emotions felt like!"

But Mantis was already up on her feet, shaking the last of the man's emotions from her mind. "It felt like I was being ripped apart."

* * *

This memory was more clear than the others, and Loki could make out almost every single detail.

 _Sakaar was a city never seen by any sane eyes. The skyline was jagged, no clear pattern in the buildings with the portals still spewing out lost and unloved things. That's exactly how Loki felt. How ironic that a place could mirror him so much. It really was a shame the Grand Master was a lunatic, or else Loki would've really liked to stay here._

 _But did Thor really agree with him?_

 _Did he truly think so little of him?_

 _Could Loki seriously blame him though? After all he'd done, he was lucky if anyone who knew him even thought positively of him at all anymore._

 _"Loki I thought the world of you," Thor said suddenly. "I thought we were going to fight side by side forever but at the end of the day you're you and I'm me." He smiled pathetically at Loki. "I dunno, maybe there's still good in you, but to be honest our paths diverged a long time ago."_

 _Loki sucked in a horrible bitter breath, his heart skipping a few beats. He'd expected something entirely different, not this. For a moment he had no idea what to say, so he blurted out whatever his defence mechanism came up with first._

 _"Yep... It's probably for the best if we never see each other again."_

 _"Welp, that's what you've always wanted."_

 _No, that wasn't what Loki always wanted, but he wasn't going to admit it. Never to anyone, not even to himself. He had never wanted..._

 _Why did Thor suddenly act indifferent? Didn't he care anymore? Shouldn't he be...? Loki bit his inner lip to stop himself from making any noise, so hard his mouth bled._

 _Thankfully Thor's next words snapped him out of his thoughts._

 _"Hey let's do 'Get Help'."_

* * *

"I understand what that feels like," Drax nodded sympathetically. "Whenever I think of my wife and my daughter-"

"Yeah, we know," Rocket cut across him.

Drax glared daggers at him before he continued. "He's like a pirate angel-boy." Much to Quill's dismay, and his grimace grew when he noticed Gamora lift one of the stranger's arms.

"They're so light and tough and... cold," she remarked.

Quill made a harsh noise in his throat. "Stop massaging his muscles," he ordered causally. In reply Gamora dropped the arm and gave Quill a pathetic look.

So Quill decided he had enough of his team fangirling over this unconscious survivor of who-knows-what, and he turned his gaze to Mantis. "Wake him up," he told her gently with a calm dip of his head.

The bug-like girl hesitated, reluctant to touch the stranger again, but place a single hand at his forehead. Her antennae began to glow with a soft white light, and she focused her power. "Wake-"

The stranger gave a terrified scream, leaping up from the table at once and stumbling a few paces forward before standing on shaking legs as if he was to crumble at any given moment. His shoulders heaved up and down steadily with each and every deep breath he took. He turned around ever so slowly, until both icy-blue eyes were staring at the Guardians.

"Who are you supposed to be?"


	3. Daughter of Thanos

_Back here again._

 _Loki never thought he'd see the giant rainbow bridge of Asgard again, and his heart was torn between nostalgic familiarity and dread. He tried his hardest not to look sideways at Thor, and straight on to the golden city on the horizon._

 _And towards them was walking a whole herd of guards, armed and ready. At least now they respected him, granted in the form of a threat._

 _"Welcome home!" Thor announced cheerfully, slapping his back, rough but at the same time gentle. At last Loki turned his eye to his brother, to give him an exaggerated, sarcastic glare._

 _Yet Thor was beaming at him._

 _"What are you laughing at?" Loki spat at him, wringing his hands in his binds. At least they unmuzzled him so that he could properly speak. And Thor's expression reminded him of the times he would win their petty games when they were children. And still Loki hated it. Still he turned out to be a sore loser._

 _"You do know Father does intend to make you face justice, do you not?" Thor said rather than replying to Loki's snap._

 _Loki grimaced and made an odd sound. "Don't remind me."_

 _Still Thor seemed unfazed. He began fiddling around in the hidden pockets of his suit. Out he pulled two weird cuboid things wrapped in stained white tissue, unwrapped one of them, revealing the pastel-coloured inside- and took a bite out of it._

 _Loki shuddered, raising both eyebrows in question. Thor noticed his expression and shrugged his shoulders._

 _"Ah thnuck out thome Midgar-g-ian foo," he explained airily and with a full mouth. "Thtark call-g it thomething thpecific... ah..." he snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Shawarma! Dat's wha it's call-g."_

 _"Shawarma?"_

 _"Yeah, Shawarma," Thor shrugged his shoulders again and took another bite. "Want one?"_

 _"What." Loki's eyes darted from Thor's face to the object he was being offered. "Are you trying to poison me?"_

 _Thor furrowed his brows in visible confusion. "Why would I want to poison you brother? Aren't you hungry? When was the last time you've eaten something?"_

 _When was the last time Loki ate? His stomach grumbled at him, wailing at its master to feed it. He hesitated before lifting both hands (which were still bound together) to take the thing and pried open the tissue, sinking his teeth into the soft food. It was... interesting to say the least, with meat and lettuce and other Midgardian things Loki didn't recognise. It was... bland but good, and soon Loki was eating gladly to satisfy his hunger._

 _"Unlike Asgardian food, eh?" Thor said with a smile. He picked a tiny red round vegetable from his shawarma, threw it into the air and caught it in his mouth._

 _Loki rolled his eyes upon seeing this side of his brother, but was surprised by the fact that he had somehow calmed down slightly. He was even tempted to try Thor's trick of throwing the little funny-tasting red spheres into the air and catching them in his mouth, though ultimately he decided not to._

 _The guards finally made it, and reality seeped back into him. It was as cold as the shackles around his wrists and neck._

* * *

Loki's pupils constricted when he saw the unfamiliar group, and he found himself biting back his tongue. He was breathing heavily, the air strangely musky to breathe in and it almost made him choke and cough. The ship was unfamiliar, yet much smaller than the Sakaarian ship he had stolen along with Korg and the gladiator rebels. The style was different from both Sakaarian and Asgardian, yet it made Loki's lower lip curl outward in disgust. If he didn't know any better he'd like to get out here as soon as possible.

Of course that wasn't an option. Not when around was nothing but the vacuum of space. How Loki had survived was beyond him- maybe his Jotun genes had activated and shielded him from the vein-splitting cold? But maybe he was looking too much into it- he had survived a lot more than he should've, like that Dark Elf stabbing. That was an unpleasant physical feeling.

The group that was presumably responsible for taking him out of the nothingness was now staring at him, and Loki was instantly reminded of Korg and his revolution of gladiators.

No, these guys were weirder, which was saying something. He'd spent a considerable amount of time on Sakaar for goodness sake!

The rag tag group had absolutely nothing in common. Not a single thing. A tall green lady and a broad green man with strange scarlet markings all over his shirtless body, one with long flowing hair like water, the other with no hair at all. And then there was a bug-like woman with pale skin, almost as pale as Loki himself- though her wide wasp-eyes did give him the chills.

The sentient tree and the two-legged animal weren't that much of a shock, since Loki did fight beside a living pile of rocks and his cyber-enhanced millipede friend, but there was an unusual tick about them, Loki couldn't decide if it was bad or good.

But the real surprise was the Midgardian, ironically. As far as his Migardian knowledge went, those humans from earth didn't venture into other worlds, or even space for that matter.

And it was the Midgardian who spoke first, which did throw Loki off-guard for that moment. Then again he shouldn't've been surprised. Almost all of the 'Avengers' were shoot-first ask-questions-later sort of people, or at least that was what he made of them during their brief confrontation all those years ago. _Has it really been that long ago?_

"What were you doing out there?" asked the human, narrowing his eyes at the newcomer.

Before Loki could do anything, the biggest of them all answered for him. "Well, he is the only survivor of that outside tragedy, where else would he be?"

The critter also gave his two cents. "Yeah Quill, did those sandwiches make mush out of your brain like they did your muscles?"

"I will shave you," the so-called Quill hissed through gritted teeth. "Or dye your fur pink."

"Lucky for me I don't take showers," replied the animal, flashing his short sharp teeth.

 _What the hell?_ Loki raised his eyebrow.

Even the serious-looking green lady rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. "Really? You're bickering _now_ of all times? When we have a guest?"

The attention was back to Loki now, so many pair of eyes- each of them different. Their gazes burned into Loki's skin, and once again Loki was hit with a desperate desire to get away from them. Yet he stood his ground, just as he always did. Against the Avengers, Malekith, The Grand Master... Thanos...

"Well then?" Quill's voice snapped Loki from his thoughts. "Who are you?"

Usually Loki would know exactly what to say and when, but for some reason his brain couldn't think of anything to say.

"Do you even understand what I'm saying to you?" the Midgardian snapped a little harsher, pushing Loki to reply.

"I understand every word," Loki's voice was coarse and ragged, so downtrodden even he himself didn't recognise it. He cleared his throat- realising how dry it was- before trying to speak again. "I am Loki, of Asgard."

"Asgard?" the animal echoed, pulling a thinking-face. What animal was he again? Loki tried to remember, though the thought quickly slipped from his mind. "What's Asgard? I don't think I've heard of a planet with that name before."

 _Well you'll never get the chance to see it_ , Loki hissed silently, trying his very best to keep the bitter memory of Surtur away from the front of his mind. He grit his teeth. "And who are you supposed to be?"

The human widened his narrowed eyes for a moment, before putting on a mean face again. "Name's Peter Quill- but you can call me Star-Lord."

Definitely not doing that.

He pointed to each member of his team. "This is Gamora, Mantis, Drax, Rocket and-"

"I am Groot," the tree interrupted.

Quill turned round to growl at the tree. "Yes we all know that Groot, you mind dropping that attitude?"

Oh geez... was he seriously stuck with _these_ guys? They were perhaps even worse than the people of Sakaar. He always kept up a facade around those people, but he didn't feel like it right now. Why should he bother?

A blanket was suddenly shoved against him, and Loki couldn't help the reflex of raising his hand in counterattack. A firm green hand grasped him around the wrist and a tremor went through Loki's heart. _Thanos_!

"Calm down!" Gamora snapped at him. "Whatever had attacked you it's gone now, I'm just giving you a blanket. You're freezing cold."

Loki didn't feel freezing, but then again he never felt the cold until it reached extreme levels. He lowered his wrist and forced himself to calm down. Starting a fight was the last thing Loki needed right now, yet his guard was way, way up. He was not slipping up again, not when it already cost him everything.

"Thanks," was all he muttered, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. It didn't offer much in terms of warmth, but it was better than absolutely nothing.

For as annoying as these people seemed to be, they were unusually welcoming. They let Loki sit at the side, with a bowl of steaming soup. It was bland and tasteless, but Loki didn't want to seem rude. Why did he care? What did it matter?

"Who attacked you?" Rocket was asking, genuinely curious about him. It was like he never seen an Asgardian before, or a Jotun posing as an Asgardian- no. An Asgardian, definitely an Asgardian. Just like the rest of his family.

"We were were attacked by Thanos." Because he was stupid and it was his fault. It was all his fault.

"Thanos!?" Drax gasped, which didn't suit his deep, gruff voice. "You survived an attack from _Thanos_?"

The lump in Loki's throat got bigger, and he looked at his feet. Why had he survived? Only because Thor gave himself up for Loki's stupid, useless life. It was probably Thor's worst decision, coincidentally the last one he ever made.

Quill made a sound like a sneezing cat. "Thanos? Oversized Grape-man?" He was the only one to chuckle at his own joke. "C'mon, we've already thwarted his plans so it's all 'meh'."

"It was Ronan we stopped that day, not Thanos," The green lady corrected swiftly.

Everyone's eyes were on her as she walked to the window and looked out into the darkness. "In all the time I knew Thanos, he only had one goal- to wipe out half the universe."

She pressed her face to the glass in thought, her reflection stretched across the curved pane. "He used to travel planet to planet killing half the population- massacre by massacre."

Drax nodded nobly. "Including my own."

Gamora continued with a sigh. "With all six Infinity Stones he could do it with a snap of his fingers like this-" she demonstrated with an ominous snap of her own fingers.

There was something about the way she spoke that didn't sit well with Loki- it made his skin crawl how much she knew about Thanos.

He himself barely knew anything about The Mad Titan even when he was put in charge of his army. He knew that Thanos needed the Tesseract, the Space Stone by extension, and all the other Infinity Stones, but why? Now he knew, but why did this random green lady know all this?

"You know a great deal about Thanos," he pointed out dryly.

Drax and Gamora exchanged a glance, before Drax finally said; "Gamora is the daughter of Thanos."

 _What did he say!?_

Loki dropped the bowl onto the floor with a clatter, the soup spilling everywhere. His eyes fixed onto Gamora, who looked awkwardly at her feet. She didn't even look like him, yet Loki suddenly remembered the way she had grabbed his wrist, in an oddly familiar way. A flash of fear went through him, yet he bore his teeth quickly and barked. " _Your father killed my brother._ "

Gamora must've heard the hatred in his voice, she flinched and took a step back from him. She wasn't the only one; both Drax and Quill had shifted into battle-position, guns and knives drawn, the other three guardians frozen on the spot.

It was then that Loki realised that he was standing on his feet, tensed and dangerous, and in the mirror he saw himself. Covered with ridged blue scales and dark markings instead of pale skin, his hands twisted into claws, his eyes two blazing infernos.

Oh jeez...

Loki sighed, his skin slowly stretching over his scales. Drat... He never lost his glamour, especially in front of other people, not to mention complete strangers. "My apologies," he said quietly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Dude! Do all Asgardians do that!?" the animal had leapt up onto the table to get a better look at him. An involuntary flinch went through his entire body. _I am not Asgardian._

He turned to Gamora instead. "I know your pain," he told her gently, dipping her a nod respectfully. "My father wasn't that great either." He shook his head wearily. "He imprisoned my sister in hell when he couldn't control her. He banished my brother when he couldn't control him. And when he realised he couldn't control me, he locked me away in chains in the deepest dungeon." Gamora returned the nod, a flash of recognition shining in her eyes.

"I feel your pain too," Quill put in quickly, severing the eye-contact Loki had with the green lady. "I mean it's no competition but I've been through a lot-" Gamora turned away and even Rocket rolled his eyes. "My father killed my mother, and then I had to kill my father, which would be definitely harder than having to deal with imprisonment."

 _Why do I even bother with you?_ Loki sighed deeply and sat down again, turning his head away from the 'Guardians'. Some guardians, what did they guard anyway?

Guardians, sounded like the 'Avengers', except that the Avengers were actually terrifying to go up against. And they had Thor, which made them instantly and ultimately better. They _had_ Thor...

"Hey space-angel," again Rocket didn't let Loki drift into his mind for long. "Why did Thanos attack your ship?"

 _Please... anything but that_. Loki's mind was already distracted enough. "He took the Space Stone from me and killed half of my people." His fists tightened. "He's already got the Power Stone when he attacked Xandar last week-" the guardians shared uneasy looks "-and he's on his way to Knowhere."

"Nowhere?" The Mantis-woman questioned. "He must be going _somewhere_."

"Knowhere's a place," Quill explained, advancing still. "Why would he be going to Knowhere?"

 _For goodness sake stop asking me questions!_

"The Reality Stone."

Quill narrowed his eyes at the Asgardian. "How do you know he's going after the Reality Stone and not any of the other ones?"

 _He wants a fight_ , Loki decided. "Use your brain, mortal. The Soul Stone doesn't exist, the Time Stone is protected by the wizard- whatever his name is- and the Mind Stone is guarded by the Avengers, therefore he's going after the Reality Stone. It's process of elimination, you should be able to figure that out."

Quill made an odd harking sound, barely stopping himself from punching Loki's teeth in. In any other circumstances Loki would've liked to see him try, though it would've been just a waste of time.

Hanging out with these so-called "guardians" was a waste of time.

The conversation melted away into meaningless background noise. Things were not meant to be this way! Everything should've turned out just fine, Thor said so-

Everything did not turn out fine. Why did his family die and Loki get to live? It was his fault, that's why. In a horribly morbid, twisted way; Loki killed his entire family.

Was it not him who gave the Dark Elves the directions to Frigga? Was it not him who stranded Odin on Midgard and left him to die? Who was it who released Surtur to destroy not only the entire planet but also his older sister?

And who had taken the Tesseract which lead Thanos to find the Asgardian refugees and his brother?

It was all his fault.

 _-Come on Loki! Let's see what's behind that riverbend!_

 _-Thor... We've been walking for hours... Can we go home now?_

 _-You're so boring! Don't you want to see what's behind the corner of the path? Over the mountain?_

 _-Not really..._

Now he would never find out what was behind the crook of that river, he would never stand side-by-side with his family in front of the huge Asgardian crowds. He would never see any of them alive again.

Not ever again.

A loud crash made Loki flinch and look back at the guardians, and he was not at all surprised at Quill and the animal going at each other's throats.

"I know you're a coward," Quill was shouting. "You just don't want to go where Thanos is."

"Shouldn't we get help elsewhere?" Rocket suggested desperately. "The Nova Corps anyone?"

Quill clicked his tongue. "If Thanos attacked Xandar, the Nova Corps don't exist anymore, and besides we don't have much time."

"You're only voting to go to Knowhere because you want to impress Gamora."

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

Loki stood to his feet. "You're heading to Knowhere?"

"Yes," said Quill.

"No," said Rocket at the same time.

Loki took a deep breath. This was the very least he could do. "Allow me to accompany you to Knowhere. I'd say I'm rather useful in a fight."

Instantly Quill took a stance. "You've already been beaten by Thanos, what help can you be?"

Oh he did just not.

"You'd be better with me than against me," Loki snapped, shifting his voice so it mimicked Quill's voice identically. The captain's mouth fell open in silent protest. Alright, Loki was going with this.

He stepped forward, adopting the bulky outline and short frizzy brown-blonde hair of Quill. "I can assure you, I am a most formidable ally." The look on Quill's face would've been funny if Loki could only enjoy it. It was too much like Thor's when Loki had first began shapeshifting- scratch that, Quill's expression was awful.

"It's settled then," Gamora took over the conversation- Quill couldn't even speak. "We're going to Knowhere."


End file.
